What's for dinner tonight? Mexican Stromboli's

Hello hello dear readers! 
Tonight I am attempting to reproduce a favorite from our local pizza joint (they are a small store, they make their dough instead of buying it, so far no reactions with them, but to be on the safe side, I'd like to be able to reproduce their recipes that we adore) Harry's Favorite Beef Taco Stromboli. Since I am avoiding pork and beef, I've also adapted Taco Chicken for my Stromboli. So, it should be an exciting night, the beef and chicken are already done, the tomatoes are chopped, and I am currently waiting on the yeast to proof for our pizza dough. Here is my recipe:

Beef Taco Stromboli 
1-1 1/2 lb hamburg (extra for left overs)
taco seasoning,
1/4 c water
1 chopped onions,
1 chopped tomatoes
lettuce chopped,
fresh pizza dough
corn tortilla chips
shredded cheddar cheese
salsa and sour cream for dipping


Brown hamburg with onions, drain, add taco seasoning and water, let settle for 10 minutes. While meat is settling, roll out pizza dough to 1/4 inch, add hamburg mix, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, tortilla chips and shredded cheese, on half the dough, fold empty half of dough over and press dough together. Cook in 475 f oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.




To do Chicken, follow the same order of operations with chicken instead :-)


Here is my dough recipe....



2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Blue Ribbon Chili

• When Harry suggested to me that we should shake up Thanksgiving this year, and do chili, we discussed doing Turkey Chili, but I thought we also needed to make a regular chili too. I found this recipe on All Recipe's and thought  we should give it a try. It turned out fantastic! It was a hit with everyone but H, who preferred the Turkey Chili. I apologize for not taking as many pictures with this recipe as I did the others, I ended up doing most of my cooking Wednesday as M was sick on Tuesday. The upside, is that this turned out so well, I intend on making a triple batch of this next weekend to store away in the freezer for those moments when chili would be handy to have in a can (since we cannot use the canned chili anymore this is great!)so I will take more pictures then!!!

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• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2  1 onion, chopped

4 stalks Celery Chopped Fine.

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce   1 15.5 oz can Italian Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) jar salsa
• 4 tablespoons chili seasoning mix
• 1 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the ground beef and the onion and saute for 10 minutes, or until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain grease, if desired.
2. Add the ground black pepper, garlic salt, tomato sauce, salsa, chili seasoning mix and kidney beans. Mix well, reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/debdoozies-blue-ribbon-chili/detail.aspx

Bread Sticks

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons canola or EVOO
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
Italian Seasoning
egg wash (for browning)
parmisean or regiano cheese (topping)

Preheat oven to 375 F

Proof yeast for 10 minutes by placing the water in a ceramic or plastic cup along with the yeast, oil, and sugar.

While yeast is proofing, combine dry ingredients, flour, salt, Italian seasoning  by lightly mixing.

Once yeast has proofed, mix liquid with dry ingredients by hand until dough ball forms (for best results lightly oil your hands before mixing)

roll dough into a ball and set aside in a bowl loosely covered by plastic wrap for 10 minutes or until doubled in size then pound out, seperate into 8 equal sections of dough, like playdough, create long dough sticks out of each of the sections, place on counter, allow to rise 10 minutes, before brushing egg wash on top of breadsticks. Bake for 15-18 minutes, then sprinkle cheese over top.

Salsa Verde Braised Pork

1 pork tenderloin, any size
1 bottle salsa verde (i.e. green)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
Salt

In dutch oven, combine pork, salsa, onion, broth and spices. Boil over high heat for a few minutes. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is very tender (2-3 hours) (Alternately, you can put the pork in a slow cooker on low for a while, then transfer it to a dutch oven and add the salsa, onion, broth and spices. We did this when we were gone for the afternoon.).

Easy-Ass Galette

pie crust
1 Tablespoon butter or margarine
2 small onions, sliced
1 to 2 Tablespoons balsalmic vinegar
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 cup bleu cheese or gorgonzola
1/4 cup parmesan (optional)

Caramelize onions by melting butter or margarine in skillet, adding onions and cooking on medium heat until transparent. Reduce heat to low and let onions cook for a good half hour, stirring occasionally. When onions have turned golden (but not charred), add balsalmic vinegar and let cook another ten minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

While onions are caramelizing, lay a pie crust across a flat dish or cookie sheet and cover with shredded chicken, leaving a 1 to 2 inch border around edge of crust.

Scatter onions over shredded chicken. Top with bleu cheese or gorgonzola. Then sprinkle parmesan over the top.

Fold the edges up in pleats around the circumference of the galette.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until pie crust and cheese start turning golden brown.

Spaghetti Carbonara

4 ounces uncooked pasta

(spaghetti, linguine, or whatever else your little heart desires)

1/2 cup milk, cream, or half-and-half

3 Tablespoons parmesan cheese


1 Tablespoon chopped, fresh Italian parsley


1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste


Ground, black pepper, to taste (we like to use lots)


4 to 5 strips crumbled bacon


1/4 cup onion, chopped


1 clove garlic, minced


1-2 eggs, lightly beaten






Remember to quadruple the sauce recipe if your using an entire lb of pasta!


Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente (just done, but not too mushy). Drain pasta and reserve 1/4 cup cooking liquid.






While pasta is boiling, combine milk, parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and set it aside.






In a skillet, fry bacon and remove from pan. Drain out most of bacon fat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until softened. Reduce heat to medium-low and add milk mixture and pasta to pan.






In a small bowl, beat egg with a whisk and add the 1/4 cup of reserved hot water. This will temper the egg so it won't immediately scramble upon hitting the hot skillet. Stir egg into pasta. Crumble bacon and add to pasta. Cook for about five minutes, stirring constantly until sauce is creamy.






Serve with buttery garlic bread and salad.

Pasta Primavera With Chicken (Rachel Ray)

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=4096

This is really good, makes more like 6-8 servings. I could not find the egg pasta she was calling for, used extra wide egg noodles, and I also used 4 thin boneless skinless chx breast (meat)/ 1c chx stock(pasta) instead of bone in skin on chix breast as I could not find this cut. Would recommend using more than one lemon zest & juice for pasta garnish. This took 1 1/2 hr prep and apx 2 hours cooking.


For the chicken:
1 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast (a full breast with 2 breasts attached, about 2-2 1/2 pounds)
1 medium onion, cut into quarters
1 small lemon, sliced
1 carrot, cut into quarters
2 ribs celery, cut into quarters
2 large bay leaves
A small bundle of parsley, thyme and rosemary


For the pasta primavera:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
3 tablespoons butter
2 small or 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 2-inch matchsticks
1 small zucchini, trimmed and cut into 2-inch matchsticks
1 large or 2 small leek, trimmed, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced on an angle or chopped into matchsticks, washed and dried
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and white pepper or finely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 cups chicken stock (poaching liquid)
1 box frozen peas, defrosted
1 pound egg tagliatelle
A handful of parsley, thyme leaves and rosemary, very finely chopped
1 lemon
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, for topping


Serves 4


PREPARATION


To poach the chicken, place the chicken, onion, lemon, carrot, celery, bay leaves and herb bundle in a pot. Cover the chicken with water and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain and reserve the poaching liquids; cool the chicken to handle. Remove the skin and bones, then pull the meat into thin, bite-size pieces.

For the pasta, heat the EVOO, one turn of the pan, with the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, zucchini, leeks and garlic; season with salt and white pepper and sauté to tender, 6-7 minutes. Sprinkle the veggies with flour and stir for a minute more. Deglaze the pan with wine, then stir in 2 cups of the reserved poaching liquid. Thicken to lightly coat a spoon; add in the chicken and peas and reduce the heat to low.


Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Add salt and cook the pasta to al dente. Drain and toss with the chicken and sauce, adding an additional 1/2 cup poaching liquid if the pasta gets too tight.


Zest the lemon and combine with the finely chopped herbs. Juice the lemon into the pasta and serve in shallow bowls topped with the gremolata and some cheese.

Soy Free Spanish Red Beans & Rice

2c White Rice

2 tsp butter

1 can medium black olives

1 medium onion

1 can diced tomatoes

1 pkg Sazon seasoning

2 can Red Beans

4c Chicken stock (CANNED SOY FREE)

2 pkg Smoked Sausage (SOY FREE)

Canola Oil (2 turns of the pan)






In Medium Sauce Pan heat 4 cups chicken stock, sazon seasoning packet, and butter to a boil, add 2 c rice, turn down to simmer, simmer for 12 minutes.

Use Food Processor to finely chop onions and black olives, put in heated pan with 2 turns of canola oil. Cook for 3 minutes until onions start to turn clear, add tomatoes (drained). Cook 3-5 minutes, add Red kidney beans, simmer mixture for 5-7 minutes.


Slice Sausage

Remove vegi mixture to serving bowl, using same pan cook up sliced sausage apx 5 minutes, then add vegi mixture back into pan to meld flavors, turn down to low, allow to cook for 7-10 minutes.


Mix vegi and beef to rice and serve hot.